Thursday, May 9, 2024
Tony Bertuca is chief editor of Inside the Pentagon, the flagship publication of InsideDefense, where he focuses on defense budget and acquisition policy. He previously worked for the Sun-Times News Group in his hometown of Chicago, IL, and at the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, NH. Tony has also served as managing editor of Inside the Army. He has a master's degree in journalism from Boston University.
President-elect Donald Trump continued his public criticism of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter during a Thursday night speech in which he promised to impose a "lifetime ban" on Pentagon acquisition officials involved in the aircraft contract from subsequently working in the defense industry.
President-elect Donald Trump has selected former defense executive and retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as chief of staff and executive secretary of the National Security Council, according to an announcement from the presidential transition team.
The Pentagon is turning to the Defense Science Board, an influential scientific advisory panel, for help in addressing the looming affordability challenge posed by recapitalizing the nuclear triad, specifically focusing on existing modernization plans and force mix, according to a recent memo.
The Pentagon acquisition chief, in response to continued anti-access investments from potential U.S. adversaries, has directed the Defense Science Board to study new systems and technology that would enable the cost-effective use of long-range, standoff weapons from greater distances than current capabilities allow.
The United Kingdom will outfit its new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier to allow the U.S. F-35B Joint Strike Fighter to operate from it beginning in 2021, British Defence Minister Michael Fallon announced today in a joint press conference with Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
Here are some must-reads from this week's edition of Inside the Pentagon.
The fate of one of outgoing Defense Secretary Ash Carter's signature initiatives -- the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental -- is unclear as President-elect Donald Trump looks to hand former Marine Corps General James Mattis the keys to the Pentagon early next year.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) has plans to establish a new cyber subcommittee, which he hopes will be chaired by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
The week ahead features two panel discussions on U.S. military technological innovation, while Congress has finished its business for 2016, passing a continuing resolution late last week that is set to expire April 28.
Major news outlets are running headlines about an alleged cover-up and Congress is poised to investigate a controversial Defense Business Board report, but former Defense Department Comptroller Bob Hale is perplexed at the attention being shown to the two-year old study, which purports to demonstrate how the Pentagon could achieve $125 billion in savings over five years by cutting back-office bureaucracy.
The State Department has approved $8.6 billion worth of potential foreign military sales packages to countries in the Middle East, the bulk of which would come from a pair of helicopter deals with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to a series of Thursday notices from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
The House, with a 326-96 vote, passed a continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded until April 29. The Senate will have to pass the measure Friday to avert a government shutdown.
Here's some must-reads from Inside the Pentagon.
Republicans have crafted a short-term continuing resolution that includes language that would expedite the Senate's consideration of retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis to serve as President-elect Donald Trump's defense secretary.
The annual end-of-year luncheon hosted Tuesday by the Aerospace Industrial Association, the largest defense contractor advocacy group in Washington, morphed from what is typically a holiday social event to a support group for those dealing with what the head of the organization said promises to be a complex -- and sometimes bewildering -- relationship with President-elect Donald Trump.
The Washington Post published a story Monday detailing a "buried" January 2015 Defense Business Board report, but the existence of the report comes as no surprise to readers of Inside Defense, which covered it the day it was released.
Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work recently briefed President-elect Donald Trump's transition team and carefully laid out the foundations of the Third Offset Strategy, as well as the looming budget challenges that stand to derail envisioned investments needed to maintain U.S. military superiority.
New legislation will be required for retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis to serve as the next defense secretary if he is confirmed by the Senate, setting the stage for both defense committee maneuvering and high-profile hearings on civilian control of the military that Washington hasn't seen in more than 60 years.
President-elect Donald Trump will be meeting today with former Defense Secretary Bob Gates, who once wrote that Trump was "beyond repair" on national security and "unfit to be commander in chief."
President-elect Donald Trump has named three new members to his defense “landing team,” according to a statement from the transition committee.